Users of small to medium sized boats will most likely have encountered the problems associated with launching a boat, or retrieving it after use. Whether the boat is to be beached for one hour to enjoy a picnic on a remote beach, or to be removed from the water for winter storage, the difficulties are similar.
Beaching a boat or jet-ski can present a number of problems. The first is that when there is no jetty or wharf in the area in which the boat is to be landed, then at least one of the occupants of the boat usually needs to get their feet wet. This can be both inconvenient and a discomfort, and can pose further difficulties if the boat only has one occupant.
Quite apart from the problems of approaching a beach or shoreline that does not have a jetty or wharf, there is the basic problem of launching and retrieving boats on pieces of shoreline which do not have a suitable launching ramp.
Even if launching ramps are available, recreational boat users still encounter a number of problems, particularly in urban areas because launching ramp facilities are usually in high demand. These areas are often congested since launching ramps usually only have facilities to allow one or two boats to be launched or retrieved at any one time. Therefore at the beginning and end of weekends or other holidays there may be queues at launching ramp facilities since there is often a significant period of time involved in having a motor vehicle with a trailer manoeuvre onto the launching ramp to launch or retrieve the boat.
Another inconvenience with launching and retrieving boats is having to leave the boat in an area adjacent to the ramp while the user goes to retrieve the automobile and trailer and position the automobile and trailer on the ramp. A user then needs to try and retrieve the boat and then facilitate retrieval of the boat onto the trailer. The same occurs when the boat is being launched, only firstly the user launches the boat from the trailer, then the user needs to place the boat at some near location before leaving the boat to park the vehicle and trailer. In these instances where the boat is left at a location adjacent to the ramp the boat is often in the way of other users of the ramp, and there is a risk of the boat drifting from its desired location, causing injury to people, the boat or adjacent property, or even being lost completely.
Where no launching ramp is available, it is often necessary to manoeuvre a towing vehicle and trailer over unpaved terrain and into the water, which in the case of the sea is often highly corrosive to the vehicle and trailer. The terrain may also be difficult to negotiate, for a vehicle and trailer which has been designed for use on paved roads.
At times when a boat is not in use, it is often advantageous to remove it from the water, to protect it from tidal influences, and from the effects of storms which can severely disturb the surface of bodies of water. This usually involves the use of additional vehicles or machinery, which can be inconvenient. Where the shoreline comprises mud flats, or soft sand, specialised tractors may be required.
In past there have been numerous versions of amphibious vehicles designed. Primarlily however these have been land based vehicles with certain modifications to enable them to negotiate short stretches of water, and usually at relatively low speeds. A smaller number of designs have put retractable wheels onto vehicles used primarily as boats. Typically non motorised wheels have been put on smaller boats and dinghies. The boats having retractable wheels do not appear to have had a significant impact on the market, because they either do not perform particularly well on the terrain found on most shorelines, or the modifications to the boats significantly impair their utility or appearance as a boat. Cut-outs and doors or flaps in the hull, as used in these previous designs, often become unsightly, or entangled with seaweed, or leak excessively, or create an undue maintenance burden.